Vermicomposting is a process in which red wiggler worms (eisenia fetida) decompose organic waste, such as food scraps and newspaper, in order to convert it into a natural nutrient rich fertilizer. Vermicomposter bins are very eco-friendly and are an extremely efficient way to dispose our waste as it slightly eliminates the amount of waste and pollution on earth. Vermicomposting is nature’s organic fertilizer. It also produces a rich nutrient full fertilizer that is much richer than outdoor compost. Vermicomposter bin’s take a small amount of effort to create and maintain and they take up very little space and can be kept indoors where regular composting is very difficult and extremely unpractical. They have also been shown to act as a …show more content…
The life cycle of a red wiggler has several stages including the cocoon formation, the incubation period, the hatchlings, and the clitellum development . The cocoon is a small lemon shaped enclosure in which 4-6 embryonic worms are kept until they hatch. The incubation period is 23 days and the worms will emerge in 2-3 weeks in temperatures of approximately 18-20 degrees Celsius. They start composting as soon as they hatch. After 40-60 days the worms develop a clitellum which signifies their sexual maturity.
The main purpose of this experiments was to observe whether the adding of foods with high acidic levels to the vermicomposter will have an overall impact on the final population of worms in the bin. The research question is how does acidity affect the number of worms in our vermicomposter. The hypothesis is that as the levels of acidity increase the number of worms will decrease as red wiggler worms (eisenia fetida) are very sensitive to acid and as a result the high levels will make them lose or be detrimental to their ability to reproduce at an efficient rate.When the worms are healthy, there will be a larger number of worms because if the acidity is increased then the number of worms will decrease. The results of this experiment may indicate the importance of providing the worms with a low to healthy amount of pH to help improve their development instead of putting them in danger. 2. Methodology The experiment took
The lab handout provided by the instructor was used as a guideline to conduct this experiment. The only difference was the organism used and data collection period. For this experiment, pill bugs and crickets were utilized. Also, data was collected for a period of 12 minutes.
The dependent variable is pulsation rates of L. variegatus before and after they were in the treatments. The standardized variable of this experiment would be the temperature of the surroundings of the L. variegatus, the three pulsation rates taken for each worm before and after the treatments, and also the amount of time each worm was kept in their respective treatments. The level of treatment for this experiment would be ten because of the six different concentration treatments of caffeine and nicotine along with the four household drugs. The sample size of the experiment differed from some treatments to other. For the three different concentrations of caffeine and nicotine, the sample size was 18 black worms each. The sample size of the control treatment of week 1 was 6 black worms. 12 black worms were used for the control of week 2, decaffeinated coffee and instant coffee. 11 black worms were used for the tea treatment and 15 were used for the tobacco treatment. There were three replications of the pulsation rate readings per worm before and after the treatment. With all this information we were able to get the results we got.
“Waste” is a short essay in which Wendell Berry critically analyzes the growing epidemic of trash that is polluting the nation’s land, waterways, and the air. Berry explains to the readers how the remnants of floods and litter that leave farmlands scattered with trash, makes more work for the farmers who have to rid their land of the trash before they can use it. Along with the floods, roads and highways also lead to a barrage of garbage from people who are too lazy or ignorant to take proper care of their garbage, which Berry claims leads to “. . . a constant precipitation of cans, bottles, the plastic-ware containers of fast food joints, soiled plastic diapers, and sometimes whole bags of garbage,” (Waste 1) along the edges of their fields. The garbage of the country continues to be a burden for everyone, whether it impacts them directly or not. Although it would be impossible to eliminate garbage completely from the country, the waste could be greatly reduced. Most of today’s trash is a consequence of the laziness of American society.
2. Pin the earthworm to the tray using one pin on either end of the worm.
Acidity increases by ten times for one pH level increase. Soil pH is a major constraint on plant growth. Since plants are the base of the ecosystem, pillbugs may be affected by the pH change as well. Soil acidity can be assisted by addition of certain other plants, like AM fungi, or the addition of basic materials (Kawahara, et. al., 2016). We decided to investigate which pH level pillbugs naturally preferred. We created three different choice chambers that had pH levels of 5, 7, and 9. This experiment will test if pH has an effect on pillbug choice of habitat.We predicted that there will be more pillbugs in the choice chamber with a pH of 7 because a pH level of 5.5 to 7 is considered to be the normal, natural environment of pillbugs. Usually, the pH that pillbugs are found in are 5.5 to 7 (Kawahara, et. al., 2016). In each habitat, the number of pillbugs will be counted every minute for 15 minutes. If a pillbug is in between chambers during the counting, they may be counted for the chamber to which they are
As an experiment I would place multiple kinds of cereal in front of a single mealworm, and record their reactions to each certain type of
In part 2 of the experiment we are inducing RNAi through the process of feeding. To do so, a black pen is used to label the bottom of an OP50 seeded plate with the date and “wild type”. Another OP50 seeded plate is labeled with the date and “dpy-13”. A black pen is then used to label the bottom of the plate seeded with dpy-13 RNAi feeding strain with the date and “wild type”. Five L4-stage worms from the plate of wild type worms are then picked and moved to the OP50 seeded plate labeled “wild type”. Any eggs or young larvae that may have been accidentally transferred are to be picked off of the plate and then flamed in a Bunsen burner. The same method is used to move five L4 wild type worms to the plate seeded with the dpy-13 RNAi feeding strain, and once again to move five L4 dpy-13 worms to the OP50 seeded plate labeled “dpy-13”. These plates are then incubated upside down at 20˚C.
Composting is important when we look at the future wellbeing of our planet and how it will affect the upcoming generations. According to epa.gov ,benefits of composting would be to reduce waste in landfills, and to transform that waste into a natural
According to some experts and their investigations such as McCabe (2016), there are some possible and effective alternatives or solutions to this current problem. In terms of reducing the environmental impact, a ‘circular economy’ should be applied, transforming food remains and garbage into biofuel, bioenergy, fertiliser or biogas, using an anaerobic digestion technology called ‘co-digestion’, as well as thermal recovery
Purpose: The purpose of this experiment is to observe the pill bugs’ behaviors when introduced to a stimuli, a strong scent, and it is important to notice whether the pill bugs perform taxis or kinesis as a result of the stimuli. In addition, the purpose is to learn how to properly design an experiment is.
They play a key role in regenerating and displacing soil. Earthworm activities changes both physical and chemical characteristic of soil. They help convert organic matter to humus. Additionally, they ingest other particles (sand grains) and when it is digested and excreted, it is accessible for plants to take advantage of its minerals and nutrients. Physically, the earthworm creates tunnels for air and water to navigate the soil. () They play an essential role in fighting erosion and are vital to plant growth. Healthy soil is depended on a thriving worm population. The ability to break down organic matter and excrete nutrients makes the earthworm valuable to restoration projects. Some people have employed earthworms to prepare soil for the return of native flora. Individuals that utilized this idea have seen better results in the return of their soil ecosystem than previously used methods. The number of
Purpose: The purpose of the lab is to find out the change in mass of the mealworms and the potato slice and compare them. It is also to find out how much carbon dioxide is in the container at the beginning and the end of the experiment.
In conclusion, extremely prominent procedure of ladybug lifecycle is egg step, hatchlings step and pupa with adult step. We explain the first step of ladybug life cycle. Ladybug ovulate more than ten eggs and put them on one place. She put them on the right place. Also, she makes sure that the small eggs can find all the basics. The second step that clarifies was larvae stage. The larvae start watching and searching for something to eat. They are certainly will find because the mother choose the best place for them. The last two steps are pupa stage and adult stage. On pupa step they will finding paper to join. Throughout the pupa stage they will change to adult stage. On that steps the skin going to improve. It is be strong and the color is
There was no significant (p<0.05) difference between the initial weights of the lugworms in the 4 sample groups, avoiding any bias in treatments. As Figure 4 shows each sample group showed a large increase in weight after exposure to the diluted salinities with the lugworms that were placed in full strength seawater not showing an increase of more than 1.7%.
These days, our earth has been filled by a lot of waste. There is a lot of garbage, plastic waste, and electronic waste. We always produce it and dump it when we need the new one. Our waste are piling up and continuously accumulating. Plastic waste is one of the biggest problems for us now. And our solution in this problem is recycling. In my opinion, recycling is a way to manage used items into new products. We can reduce, reuse, and recycling (3R) waste management (Peter, 2013). We can reduce our waste clothes with reuse it. There are some reasons why peoples recycle used or unwanted items, which are, prevent wasting unusable materials that still have usage after recycled, reduce the application of raw materials, reduce energy